LNG Canada CEO Andy Calitz applauds after a final investment declaration was signed by LNG Canada joint venture participants to build an LNG export facility in Kitimat, during a news conference in Vancouver on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. The head of LNG Canada says Ottawa’s trade and diplomatic frictions with Beijing have had no impact on the massive project that will one day ship liquefied natural gas from British Columbia to major Asian economies including China. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Tensions with China ‘do not play out in our project at all’: LNG Canada CEO

The head of LNG Canada says Ottawa’s trade and diplomatic frictions with Beijing have had no impact on the massive project that will one day ship liquefied natural gas from British Columbia to major Asian economies — including China.

In an interview today, Andy Calitz says the tensions between Canada and China have never been raised at any of LNG Canada’s executive committee meetings.

The state-controlled Chinese energy firm, PetroChina, owns a 15-per-cent stake in the $40-billion project — which Calitz says is on track to start transporting gas in late 2023.

Calitz says China is actually quite proud that it plans to bring in Canadian gas to help it replace its coal power plants, improve air quality and lower greenhouse-gas emissions.

In recent weeks, China has blocked Canadian canola-seed shipments — which is widely seen as a response to Canada’s move in December to arrest senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver at the behest of the United States.

Since Meng’s arrest, China has detained two Canadian citizens on allegations of endangering Chinese national security and has sentenced two Canadians to death for drug-related convictions.